Auden and English/British Royalty
On Ischia in 1956 or 1957 Auden told a friend,
'I know exactly why Guy Burgess went to Moscow. It wasn't enough to be a queer and a drunk. He had to revolt still more to break away from it all. That's just what I've done by becoming an American citizen. You can become an Italian or French citizen -- and that's all right. But become an American citizen and you've crossed to the wrong side of the tracks.'
Why did Auden interpret his own break with English culture as the equivalent of treason? And how are his readers to understand its cultural significance? One way to calibrate these issues is to relate Auden, both literally and figuratively, to the embodiments of national history, the benchmark personifications of national belonging, the country's monarchs. Auden's ancestry intersects extensively with the genealogy of Britain's royal houses – Auden was related, however distantly, to every king or queen of England who has reigned since 927. The links which follow enable one to judge Auden's 'breaking away' from the nation against his unusual, original closeness to its iconic centre.
The 'I' number within parentheses following each name indicates the unique number assigned to the person in the 'Family Ghosts' database; a search on that number will produce the full record for that person. Numerous brief biographies for all individuals mentioned on this page are available on the Web and so, with exceptions, detailed personal histories are not given in 'Family Ghosts'. Auden’s relations to many other figures from English and European history are detailed elsewhere in the database.
Proto-history
The current British royal family, the House of Windsor, traces its history back in a continuous line to Cerdic, who lived in the 6th century and is reputed to have been the first king of the Gewisse, or West Saxons. Cerdic is said to have ruled parts of what is now Hampshire. George V, George VI and Elizabeth II, the monarchs who occupied the British throne for the majority of W. H. Auden’s life, were – and are – believed to be Cerdic’s 46 times great grandson, 47 times great grandson and 48 times great granddaughter, respectively.
Using exactly the same genealogical premises concerning what is in a quasi-mythic version of West Saxon history, it is possible to show that W. H. Auden was, like George V, a 46 times great grandson of Cerdic: his 'lineage' was as ancient as the House of Windsor’s. The present list highlights Auden’s relations to some notable rulers in early West Saxon history. Auden’s relations to other figures from the same period are detailed elsewhere in the 'Family Ghosts' database.
Cerdic (I2565), Auden was his 46 times great grandson, relationship to Auden
Ecgberht (I2542), Auden was his 34 times great grandson, relationship to Auden
Æthelwulf (I2534), Auden was his 33 times great grandson, relationship to Auden
Alfred the Great (I2481), Auden was his 32 times great grandson, relationship to Auden
Rulers of England and later Great Britain since 927
In the words of the standard reference source, the Handbook of British Chronology, in 927 Æthelstan, king of the West Saxons and Mercians, 'invaded and annexed Northumbria', creating a ragged, tenuously unified administrative and territorial kingdom of England. Since that time there have been 58 monarchs and two Lords Protector who ruled, sometimes lengthily, sometimes very briefly indeed, and on occasion twice, over the kingdom of which Æthelstan’s territory was the nucleus. The links in the complete, chronological list of monarchs given below demonstrate how Auden was related to each of these kings or queens. (Monarchs who reigned twice, such as Henry VI (I2273), are only listed once here.)
What the assembled story shows is that for more than 450 years, from the time of Æthelstan (893/894-939) until the time of Edward III (1312-1377), that is, during the Saxon and medieval periods of British history, a time with which Auden felt a strong and hitherto largely unexplained intellectual and artistic fascination, some of his own direct ancestors were members of the inmost recesses of the British royal families. The deadly rivalries which developed between Edward III’s numerous sons and which led to the splitting of the House of Plantagenet into the warring branches of York and Lancaster, also marked the moment when Auden’s ancestors (descending through Edward III’s fifth and youngest son, Thomas Plantagenet of Woodstock, the Duke of Gloucester [I1267], whom Richard II had murdered in Calais in 1397) began to move slowly, laterally away from such close proximity to the throne. However, and remarkably, through numerous family connections Auden continued to have a traceable relation to every subsequent individual who has ever worn the English or British crown.
On a side-note: two ancestors of Auden who were Archbishops of Canterbury performed the ultimate legitimizing ceremonial of crowning five of these monarchs: his 18 times great uncle, Archbishop Thomas Arundel (I3949), crowned Henry IV and Henry V, while his 15 times great uncle, Archbishop Thomas Bourchier (I2430), crowned Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII.
In most cases, there are below two links for each monarch listed below: the first will produce a diagram of the directest relation between the individual in question and Auden, the second will bring up a diagram of other relations between that individual and Auden, including those constructed through marriage or (in genealogical jargon) 'connection', that is out-of-wedlock relationships. In some instances, where only one genealogical path is known to exist between the person in question and Auden, both links will produce the same result, in other instances, the results will be interestingly different. Limitations of the software used make it impossible to differentiate visually in these 'Relationship Charts' between marriages and connections. In these charts, all sexual relationships which produced children are subsumed under the rubric of marriage. No moral point is attached to this enforced generalization, and in all cases fuller, more accurate descriptions of the nature of the relationship(s) diagrammed are given in the records for the individuals concerned.
House of Wessex
Æthelstan the Glorious (I2514) directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edmund the Magnificent (I2502), Auden was his 30 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Eadred (I2527), Auden was his 31 times great nephew; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Eadwig (I2506), Auden was his 30 times great nephew; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edgar the Peaceable (I2444), Auden was his 29 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
St. Edward the Martyr (I2450), directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Æthelred the Unready (I2397), Auden was his 28 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edmund II Ironside (I2395), Auden was his 27 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Denmark
Swein Forkbeard (I2454), relation to Auden through marriage or connection
Cnut the Great (I2451), Auden was his 28 times great nephew; relation to Auden through marriage or connection
Harold I Harefoot (I2458), relation to Auden through marriage or connection
Harthacnut (I2459), directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Wessex
St. Edward the Confessor (I2460), directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Harold II Godwineson (I2472), Auden was his 27 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection -- Auden's 26 times great uncle Harald Hardrada (I4000), was the invading Viking whom Harold II Godwineson, Auden's 27 times great grandfather, and his soldiers killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066, shortly before Harold himself was killed at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066 by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror (I1284; see below), Auden's 25 times great grandfather
Edgar II the Ætheling (I2394), Auden was his 26 times great nephew; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Normandy
William the Conqueror (I1284), Auden was his 25 times great grandson (George VI (I2104; see below), some 12 years older than Auden, was William's 21 times great grandson); directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
William II (I2586), Auden was his 25 times great nephew; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Henry I (I1283), Auden was his 24 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Empress Matilda (I1281), Auden was her 23 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Blois
Stephen (I2389), directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Plantagenet
Henry II (I1280), Auden was his 22 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Richard I (I2599), Auden was his 22 times great nephew; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
John (I1279), Auden was his 21 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Henry III (I1278), Auden was his 20 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edward I (I1277), Auden was his 19 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edward II (I1276), Auden was his 18 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edward III (I1268), Auden was his 17 times great grandson; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Richard II (I2268), Auden was his first cousin 17 times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Henry IV (I2269), Auden was his 17 times great nephew; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Henry V (I2263), Auden was his first cousin 17 times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection [Auden was fascinated by Shakespeare's antithetical pairing of the "prig" Prince Hal/Henry V and the "fool" Sir John Falstaff – suggestively, besides being the first cousin 17 times removed of Henry V, Auden was also the third cousin 17 times removed of Joan, Baroness Cobham of Kent (I3947), wife of the "original" Falstaff, Sir John Oldcastle (I3948), and the 18 times great nephew of Archbishop Thomas Arundel (I3949), who presided over Oldcastle's trial for heresy]
Henry VI (I2273), Auden was his second cousin 17 times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edward IV (I2258), Auden was his third cousin fifteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edward V (I2277), Auden was his fourth cousin fourteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Richard III (I2278), Auden was his third cousin fifteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Tudor
Henry VII (I2276), Auden was his fourth cousin fifteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Henry VIII (I2346), Auden was his fifth cousin fourteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Edward VI (I2779), Auden was his sixth cousin thirteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Jane (I2886), Auden was her seventh cousin twelve times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Mary I (I2773), Auden was her sixth cousin thirteen times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Elizabeth I (I2777), directest relation to Auden; Lady Muriel Howard (I3403) was the great aunt of Elizabeth I, she was also the 12 times great aunt of Auden, other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Stuart
James I (I2871), Auden was his eighth cousin eleven times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Charles I (I2967), Auden was his ninth cousin ten times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Protectorate
Oliver Cromwell (I3587), Auden was his twelfth cousin ten times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Richard Cromwell (I3886), Auden was his thirteenth cousin nine times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Stuart
Charles II (I3364), Auden was his tenth cousin nine times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
James II (I3541) Auden was his tenth cousin nine times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection -- for example: Arabella Churchill (I1346), James II's mistress, was the great-great aunt of Henry Churchill (I1325), who was married to Marianne Birch (I1320), the great-great-great aunt of W. H. Auden
House of Orange-Nassau/House of Stuart
William III (I3554), Auden was his eleventh cousin eight times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Mary II (I3551), Auden was her eleventh cousin eight times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Stuart
Anne (I3881), Auden was her eleventh cousin eight times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Hanover
George I (I2965), Auden was his eleventh cousin eight times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
George II (I3884), Auden was his twelfth cousin seven times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
George III (I3904), Auden was his fourteenth cousin five times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
George IV (I3906), Auden was his fifteenth cousin four times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
William IV (I3914), Auden was his fifteenth cousin four times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
Victoria (I3920), Auden was her sixteenth cousin three times removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Edward VII (I3926), Auden was his seventeenth cousin twice removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha/House of Windsor
George V (I3929), Auden was his eighteenth cousin once removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
House of Windsor
Edward VIII (I3931), Auden was his nineteenth cousin; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
George VI (I2104), Auden was his nineteenth cousin; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection -- Auden was the thirteenth cousin of the king's wife, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (I2103)
Elizabeth II (I2105), Auden was her fourteenth cousin once removed; directest relation to Auden; other relations to Auden, including through marriage or connection
©2008 Nicholas Jenkins